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Teens
First periods, in plain words
General information, not medical advice. For anything about your own health, talk to a healthcare provider.
- Everyday LifeCan you swim on your period? Pool, lake, ocean and hot tubYes, says a Canadian children’s hospital. Here is what health sources say, where they are silent, what each format’s instructions cover in the water, and what the shark archive actually found.
- Everyday LifeThe surprise-period kit: school, work, car, lockerA period can arrive early, late or without warning. Here is a kit that works whatever you use: the basics, what to add for each format, where to keep it, and where to find free products in Canada.
- Access, Culture & CanadaViral period trends, checkedCycle syncing, seed cycling, “period flu”, period-blood face masks, swimming and synced-up friends. For each one: what the trend claims, what research says so far, and who to ask about your own body.
- Life StagesA kind guide to first periodsFor the adult beside a young person, and for the young person reading too: what usually happens, what a small kit can hold, and when to ask someone.
- Access, Culture & CanadaStrawberry week, red aunt, the monthly thingsPeople in many languages have nicknames for periods. Some borrow a relative who visits. Some borrow red things, or the moon. Here are some of the words, what linguists say about them, and why some people choose plain words.
- Access, Culture & CanadaThe tampon tax: how Canada took GST off period productsCanada once charged its federal sales tax on period pads and tampons. Manitoba took its own provincial tax off in 2002. Ottawa took the GST and HST off on 1 July 2015. Here is what the tax was, who removed it, when, and what the law says today.
- The FormatsPeriod underwear, explained: reusable and disposablePeriod underwear is underwear with absorbent layers built in. It comes in reusable and disposable versions. Here is how it works, how to read a size chart, how to care for it, and what the label tells you in Canada.
- The FormatsTampons, explained: with and without an applicatorA tampon is worn inside the vagina and absorbs flow before it leaves the body. Some go in with an applicator, others with a finger. Here is how each is used, and what a Canadian tampon label must say.
- The FormatsPeriod pads and liners, explainedPeriod pads and liners sit inside underwear and absorb flow after it leaves the body. Here is how they are used, what they are made of, how to dispose of them, and what their labels say.
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Written with our proud team of AI assistants; read and signed by the Editor. General information, not medical advice.